Ethereal
by scarlet letters in the snow
Summary: Shikamaru contemplates death and life.Spoileralert! R&R Shikaino inside.


**"Everybody hurts sometimes."**

**Warning: this is angsty at first but it gets better. Trust me. I'd never let you down!**

**XxoneshotxX**

**So spoiler alert..if you don't want to see any spoilers then don't read.**

**Enjoy until the end.**

**R&R**

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Shikamaru had never really thought about the afterlife before, but as he looked down at his broken body he decided it was about time to mull it over. There was no denying it; he was irrefutably, undeniably, irrevocably: _dead_. He waited for the cold shock to set in, but it didn't. He waited for his anger but it never came, so he stood up and turned away..his body didn't need him anymore.

As he wandered about the haze of dead bodies he wondered if he would see them. Would he see his friends, his family, his sensei? He thought he should be crying, but the tears didn't fall. He supposed that was what happened when you died..that maybe you just didn't have anything to _care_ for anymore. Or maybe it was just him. He continued to walk, looking at all the faces of the people he had known, every shinobi dead...except for perhaps one...but he couldn't recall his name. Shikamaru shrugged, looking up at the horizon. He could see a battle, two lone figures fighting to the death.

"It is better to give in," He whispered to the could be hero. "It's nice to stop the fighting...fighting is troublesome."

He recalls all the feelings he had when he was alive, and he is thankful that he no longer has the capacity to feel such things anymore.

As he steps over one of many bodies he pauses, squatting down upon the mist of his own being, he looks down at her body.

"Not you." He whispers, feeling the mosts strangest thing since he died. _Feelings_. There is a hurt deep in his soul, well he was a soul..so for his sake we will call it his essence. He reaches out to brush her blood encrusted bangs from her eyes, they are open and he sees the light dimming behind her irises.

"Come," He whispers to his would be lover.

He watches as a blue smoke seeps from her pores, then stares at her for the first time in what feels like an eternity. She looks confused, and her eyes seem unfocused.

"Ino." He says, watching her trembling body as she starts to shout. She is screaming but it is silent. She is looking at her body from above. Shikamaru knows this feeling. He reaches out to grab her hand, but instead their smokey mists intertwine, and he can feel all of her hopes and fears.

**Will I go to heaven? Will I see daddy again? What if there is no heaven? Why am I still here? Why is there blood everywhere**- it continues on and on in endless waves, but Shikamaru tunes it out. He remembers being good at that when he was alive. He finds her looking into his eyes, and he wonders if she can feel his fears too...the fear of losing something you never had..the fear of never being able to tell someone your feelings, the fear of fading away. Shikamaru tried to clutch her essence tighter, but merely pushed through her.

"Ino."

She recognizes him now, and there is no need to exchange words anymore. She nods at him and together they wander side by side through the blood and gore.

In the back of his mind Shikamaru is aware of the battle, it seems like there is no use for the hero, but a spark of something...something small burns inside of him. _Hope_. He hopes the hero wins, that he will live..because he is tomorrows' future. He sees a bright smile, whisker-like scars and he knows the face, but the name is stuck in his throat.

He looks to the mist that floats beside him, and she turns her face towards him with a strange expression. Why is it that she feels so much? Maybe he does too but is just ignoring it. He has learned from his hardships in life that if you ignore the pain...it goes away. He reaches out and stroked her blue, smokey face. This is something he would never do in life, and he turns to her while pulling her towards him. Their essences connect and he can feel her soft misty lips, they are cold. He takes a step back and looks into her teal eyes. No more regret.

In a sudden burst of light Shikamaru is sucked backwards, and his vision goes black as he is being tugged back..back into existence.

He is sitting on a grassy knoll, his head held high to the clouds. There is shouting in the distance, and he hears that Naruto won. He beat Uchiha Madara. Shikamaru stands and starts to run, he laughs loudly while throwing his hands into the air. He has never felt so alive! Never has he been so free! He jumps over a fallen log, and he knows she is there. When he lands he raises his eyes to look toward her, and she stares at him with confused eyes. He laughs as he embraces her.

Does she remember? Does she feel it now?

He swears he can feel her emotions..just like he did then, and he kisses her soft and sweet...because he is alive, and they have a chance. A chance to live again, and a chance to love..

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**So? Tell me what ya thought...I kinda dreamed about this..weird huh? Sorry for any errors if there are any..it's 1:40 A.m.**


End file.
